All Round the Wrekin - Little Wenlock

The Industrial Revolution

From the 14th Century onwards, the mining industry played a prominent role in the local economy. The coalfield was centred around the village itself and nearby settlements of Coalmoor and New Works, which developed rapidly during the 17th and 18th Centuries, as new inhabitants came to the district in search of work. The demand from local industries requiring raw materials for the iron-making process was such that some of the earliest examples of primitive railways were built in the area. They were used to carry coal in horse-drawn trucks from local mines to the River Severn and foundries that moved into the area to be closer to the coalfield.

As a consequence, limestone, another important ingredient in the production of iron, was also quarried to the north of the village at The Hatch, the Oldfield Works and at Cross Field, in Huntington Lane. However, this period of intensive activity did not last and commercial mining had all but ended by the early 20th Century.